Four words: Too many foreign films. That's my reason and I'm sticking to it.
Another new fic. . . Though I hardly need to start a new one. XD
P.S: I suggest when you finish you read the footnotes at the bottom. I don't want to keep getting discredited about my writing not being "historical" and whatnot.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns. . . though clearly he's lost his ever loving mind.
- Prelude -
During the era of feudal Japan, stories emerged from towns and cities, speaking of people known as shinobi.
According to the stories, they were assassins, spies, and saboteurs.
They arrived without shadow or footsteps, barely stirring the air as they moved. Their tasks were unknown until a body or destruction had been found, or secrets had been leaked. But by then, they had disappeared completely, leaving no trace behind them except their intended purpose.
—
Scaling bamboo was not a hobby of TenTen's.
She was in a dense forest of the peculiar plant, several miles out from the village she lived in the Iga Province.(1)
Waiting.
Just waiting.
The previous afternoon she had went before her employers at the Ivory House, intent on receiving a mission. They had instructed her to go to this forest of bamboo and wait to eliminate a politician who would be traveling to visit the daimyo.(2)
Men and their stupid politics, TenTen had mentally commented after her first hour in the bamboo, poised for anything.
That had been almost half a day ago.
TenTen was quickly growing irritated.
The sun was surging high in the blue sky, heat layering everything with sweat. Even from her position below the tops of the bamboo stalks, TenTen's skin was slick with perspiration.
Her patience was waning as well. Politicians, it seemed, were never on time when they could help it.
TenTen blinked some sweat out of her eyes.
She was used to the physical exertion; that was no problem. The waiting, however, was hell.
From below, voices floated up, obnoxious and loud. Horse's hooves made the bamboo vibrate. The bamboo TenTen occupied trembled.
She hooked her arm around one of the stalks, cautiously placing her weight evenly on the other stalks nearby.
Fighting on foot had potential to be a disaster. Politicians, such as the one below, always traveled with attendants, if not samurai for protection. So, to avoid killing the man on the ground, she had climbed the bamboo stalks with a bow and some arrows.
It was almost easier, this way, to kill from higher ground where you could not be spotted until the time of prevention had already passed. And besides, this height would make for an easy getaway.
The envoy came closer, passing under her, no one the wiser of her presence above. She was lucky the forest was so dense and that she blended in so easily with the environment. Her clothes matched the exact green of the bamboo surrounding.
She could see her target, riding astride a big, dark stallion. He was an ample man, his clothes screaming splendor and wealth. His laugh was a guffaw, and his nose was too big for his face. He leaked pompous aristocrat.
TenTen blinked, considering her options.
The politician's companions numbered to about seven total, and they lacked samurai protection. This was a stroke of luck. TenTen would have needed more heavy artillery to deal with samurai.
Still, she had to decide if the travelers besides the politician were worth killing.
She had not received instruction to eliminate them, though it was understood that sometimes such deaths were necessary for the completion of a mission.
TenTen pursed her mouth, thankful for the travelers' slow pace below.
If they noticed her, she'd have to kill them; she could not take such a chance.
She had ten arrows.
She wouldn't need the extra three.
She never missed a target.
TenTen felt her muscles tense as she silently drew back the arrow, her left hand wrapped surely around the bow.
Without hesitation, she let the arrow fly.
Before it had even landed in the back of one of the attendants, another was loosed from TenTen's bowstring.
By the time the envoy realized what was happening, more than half of them were dead.
They did not scatter, as TenTen expected them to, but they looked around frightfully, as if the arrows were appearing out of thin air.
My clothes must disguise me more than I thought, TenTen thought, slightly bemused.
A second passed and the last of the attendants were shot down, leaving the politician, his face contorted into horror.
TenTen shifted her weight; the man saw the movement and looked her in the face.
Even from a distance, TenTen could read the fear in his dull eyes. As usual, before she killed someone, a flash of curious thought entered through her brain.
From the beginnings of her career as a killer, TenTen had always wondered if the common story was true. Did one experience their life before they died? TenTen pondered at the idea frequently. It would be chilling, certainly, to see one's self in a third person experience. But thrilling, as well.
TenTen blinked and released the poised arrow.
The horse whinnied, as if sensing the trouble.
But it did not have a chance to make a decision to bolt. The arrow lodged itself perfectly into the politician's head, right between his eyes.
TenTen blinked and finally broke her stillness.
She did not spare a look for the man behind her, instead turning to head back to her village.
TenTen had seen enough dead bodies in her twenty years of life, too many to count.
She did not debate death or even the killing she took part in, because in the end, it was a simple fact: Death was inevitable. It was only the individual's choice if they met it willingly, or ran like cowards.
Of the numerous she'd killed, TenTen had not met a single person who stood ready of their fate. They all ran, in the end.
—
"Your tardiness is unacceptable."
TenTen winced, as if the words themselves had inflicted pain.
"I apologize, Katsuyu-sama," TenTen murmured, maintaining levelness in her voice.(3)
In front of her, the shinobi leader shifted in her chair.
Her amber eyes alighted on the young genin in front of her.(4)
TenTen had come to them when she was young, orphaned at six years old. In her old village, they had spoken of the mysterious shinobi of the mountains of Iga. TenTen was fascinated by the stories. After her parents died, she seemed determined to reach the Iga shinobi.
And she did, thought Tsunade.
The elder woman cleared her throat.
"There is a mission the daimyo has requested," she began, her voice stern and controlled.
TenTen, her head still bowed, nodded.
"You know that the daimyo is traveling this spring?"
TenTen nodded again, eyes trained on the floor.
"His daughter is to marry a high-ranking samurai. You will escort her to where her father is currently staying."(5)
TenTen stayed silent, though this mission confused her. It was too simple; what was the catch?
"However, the daimyo feels the marriage is a ploy for the samurai's daimyo to obtain land. You will kill the samurai before the marriage can take place, and if necessary, kill the opposing daimyo as well." Tsunade paused, measuring TenTen's crouched form. "There's a slight predicament, though."
TenTen frowned. Predicament?
"The daimyo requested a shinobi from the Jade House to help with this mission, as well."
TenTen wished to look up to gauge the expression of their shinobi leader. But that was forbidden.
Tsunade continued, "Everyone knows our history with the Jade House of Shinobi consists of bad blood. Though, this mission is from the daimyo, and he is very clear on what he wants. On any other mission, it would be possible to kill the Jade shinobi and then complete the mission, but with this particular case, you can't risk anything. These are strict orders, Sparrow. You must not under any circumstances engage the Jade shinobi in battle, understand? Not only would the daimyo's daughter be frightened, but it is imperative you abstain from angering the daimyo in any way."
TenTen nodded, though this information was confusing and . . . dismaying.
The Jade House was another organization of shinobi who lived near them. For centuries, the shinobi house TenTen belonged to, the Ivory House, and the Jade House had been enemies. There were countless stories of wronged shinobi on both sides, and eventually, they all just merged into a single fact: the Jade House and the Ivory House hated each other.
"You accept these terms?" Tsunade posed.
"Yes, Katsuyu-sama."
"Very well." There was a shuffling of papers, and then, "You will meet the Jade shinobi in the town of Go. Apparently, he goes by the name of Hawk. Do you have any questions?"(6)
TenTen shook her head.
"You're dismissed, then. Good luck, Sparrow."(7)
TenTen stood from where she had been bowing and turned, only raising her head when she was reached the door at the end of the room.
(0) I might as well go ahead and give you a very brief history on the actual ninja that existed in Japan. It's debatable that ninja even existed in Japan, though they were first mentioned around the 14th century. The documents in which they were mentioned were semi-historical, which points to the fact that they may have just been made up. They were portrayed as spies, foremost. They were not necessarily assassins, though there are reports that that was in the job description.
Apparently, they were also noted to be very unsuccessful at killing people, which is probably where the assassin bit came in. Ninja were hired by daimyo to complete tasks in which the samurai wouldn't do, either because of the samurai's honor code or because they were just unable. In relation to the samurai, it is skeptical that shinobi even existed. Samurai were the noble military of Japan, and they served daimyo of a region. Samurai were symbolized as a noble class in Japanese society, so their reputations were obviously high. Samurai are vaguely mentioned to have emerged in the 6th century, though it's debatable. However, by the 1100s, samurai were established not only in society, but in government. In some opinions, ninja are completely replaced by the much more popular samurai, attributing it as an identifying error. So, did ninja exist? Maybe. Were they really crappy at their jobs? Probably. Because of this, I'm portraying ninja the way most popular culture does. I think you can understand why I'm doing this, seeing as no one would want to read about a ninja who can't even throw a shuriken straight. :) And if you read all of that, you're amazing. ;D
(1) Iga Province is one of the old provinces of Japan, before Japan was divided up into prefectures. Iga Province was located in what is now the Mie Prefecture of Japan, a few miles from the present Osaka. It is on the main island of Honshu. Also, the bamboo forest to which I'm referring actually exists in Kyoto, which would be a short journey from what Mie Prefecture today.
(2) Mk. Here's a brief history about the daimyo: Daimyo were basically just military leaders who owned a region of land. With this land, they had both de facto administrative and military control. Before the Edo Period, daimyo were warlords who owned the land. Following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, a man named Ieyasu Tokugawa came to power as Shogun. He established a government in Edo, which prevailed for 265 years. Ieyasu redistributed the land to the daimyo and set up rules for the land owners. Ieyasu promoted foreign trade, re-established relations with the Dutch and England. He also made it his personal mission to rid himself of all rivals. In 1615, he captured Osaka Castle and defeated his remaining enemies. One of Ieyasu's most notable decisions was to create a hierarchical government and society; he outlined a very strict four class system: Samurai, who were at the top, followed by peasants, artisans, and merchants. Eta were a fifth class, but they were considered impure because of their professions. This class system was rigid, and there was little to no movement between classes.
(3) The person to whom TenTen is speaking is actually Tsunade. Katsuyu is that slug thing that Tsunade summons in fights. In the shinobi world, your identity was kept secret. In keeping with that, I made 'Katsuyu' Tsunade's alias.
(4) Genin were the actual assassins that went on missions. Above them were the chunin, who basically supervised the genin, and the jonin, who was the headman.
(5) Samurai were allowed to marry, and could even have mistresses. Usually, samurai would marry a girl from a samurai family, but not always. Divorce was also allowed, but it was rare, seeing as the person who had arranged the marriage would be dishonored. Wives of samurai could also divorce. Following a divorce, the samurai would return the dowry.
(6) Go (now known as Naramachi) is a town located in the Nara Prefecture of Japan. It was named Go in the 11th/12th century, and I assume it remained that way until the Meiji Restoration, when it was renamed Naramachi. Go was a merchant town, though after the Edo government was established, it became industrial in producing sake and bleached cotton. Naramachi exists today, and is a tourist town, owing to the fact that one of Japan's greatest temples, Gangoji Temple, resides there.
(7) 'Sparrow' is TenTen's alias. I think you can understand why I kept with the bird theme.
Please review. :)
